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When Zheng Jie came, Zheng Zhilong's bottom line for him was to keep Fujian, and he was even willing to use his eldest son as a hostage for this.
Qin Mu's condition was that the Zheng family would only retain its military power, while Qin officials would take over all civil affairs in Fujian.
According to the theory that "political power comes from the barrel of a gun", the Zheng family controlled the military of Fujian and also controlled the civil affairs at any time. If we only use the "military" and "politics" of Fujian to fight, this theory is indeed valid.
The problem is that once the government of Fujian was under the control of Qin, it would no longer exist independently, but would be supported by a more powerful force. Local officials could use the Jiangyin model at any time, defending the city and waiting for reinforcements from the Qin army.
In short, as long as the power returns to Qin, Fujian will no longer belong to the Zheng family.
Zheng Jie naturally knew all this, so he didn't dare to agree.
But Qin Mu threatened him with Westerners, so he did not dare to refuse rashly. He hurried back to Fujian to seek advice from Zheng Zhilong.
Qin Mu didn't want to delay it too long, so he asked Gan Nan, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, to accompany him to Fuzhou and be fully responsible for the negotiations with the Zheng family.
To be honest, Qin Mu didn't really want to go to war with the Zheng family. Such internal friction would only benefit the foreign enemy.
As for joining forces with Westerners to attack the Zheng family, Qin Mu only made verbal threats and would not do so unless it was absolutely necessary.
After sending Zheng Jie away, Qin Mu began to step up military deployment in Huainan, deploying troops and generals to further strengthen the defensive counterattack capabilities of Huai'an and Luzhou. A large amount of military supplies were mobilized to the front by water.
Yang Shen is still in charge of Songjiang Prefecture. After arriving in Songjiang, the first thing he did was to mobilize the common people and merchants to weave cotton cloth. At the same time, he organized a weaving factory with 7,000 people. Batches of clothes and quilts were continuously shipped out of Songjiang Prefecture and sent to the front line.
In order to strengthen the defense capability of Jiangbei, Qin Mu ordered Ning Yuan to lead 20,000 troops to station in Yangzhou, ready to go north to support Huai'an at any time.
On the other hand, Qin Liangyu in Sichuan was ordered to try to maintain a repressive posture and cooperate with Cui Feng who was fighting in Yunnan, but not to go to war with Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu unless it was absolutely necessary.
After two months of rest, the 200,000 or 300,000 Qin troops had recovered their combat power, but the previous war had consumed a huge amount of war materials. Fighting a defensive battle on the inner line was no problem, but if they fought on both sides, the Qin army would be stretched too tight and could break at any time.
Of course. Strictly speaking, the war is now on two fronts. However, Cui Feng only has 13,000 troops entering Yunnan. To put it bluntly, even if Cui Feng's entire army is wiped out, it will not pose a fatal threat to the Qin State.
It's different to go to war with Sun Kewang and Liu Wenxiu. The two of them have a total of 70,000 troops. If they fail in the war, they may turn the tables in Sichuan and even threaten Huguang. So, if you can avoid the war, don't go to war.
Qin Mu, who had just been quiet for a few days, started to be busy again. He discussed with the ministers day and night and arranged the defense. He almost forgot about the Enke.
When Fu Shan, the chief examiner, handed over the list of candidates who had passed the examination, Qin Mu was still a little dazed.
A total of 362 people were admitted as tribute scholars in this examination.
First place: Han Jing, from Xiangyin County, Huguang.
Second place: Zhu Tong, from Kunshan, Suzhou.
Third place: Xu Huaizhi, from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.
In addition, Qin Mu paid close attention and found that Sima An’s son Sima Kai was ranked twelfth, and Bai Tie’s eldest son Bai Weiheng was ranked ninety-second.
Holding imperial examinations to select scholars is a major national event. Although Jiangbei is now shrouded in war clouds, the palace examination cannot be ignored.
The palace examination was presided over by the emperor himself and only tested the current affairs policy. Those who were qualified to participate in the palace examination were those who were admitted as Gongshi in the joint examination. Gongshi did not fail in the palace examination, but the emperor rearranged their ranking.
According to the Ming Dynasty's custom, the three joint examinations were usually held on the 9th, 12th and 15th day of the second lunar month, so they were also called the spring examinations. The palace examinations were held on the 15th day of the third lunar month after the joint examinations, a full month apart.
This time, Qin Mu held an imperial examination, which was not held in the spring. Moreover, considering that the war was about to begin, it was not realistic to wait a month before holding the palace examination.
After Qin Mu discussed with the ministers, it was decided to hold the palace examination five days later, in the front hall of the palace.
Qin Mu returned to the West Garden at dusk, thinking about the questions for the palace examination as he walked.
Although the palace examinations in the past were just a formality, the emperor actually only looked at the test papers of the top eight and ten and adjusted the rankings as a formality.
But Qin Mu still hoped that he could get a more meaningful question.
Before I knew it, I had walked to Gu Hanyan's small building. A plum blossom was slanting across the corner of the building, its reflection in the water. The warm winter sun was shining on the eaves, making it look very peaceful.
When they walked upstairs, they saw Gu Hanyan sitting quietly in front of the mahogany frame, staring at her white wrists, threading the needle with her ten fingers, embroidering one stitch at a time. Hanging in front of the frame was the "Lanting Yaji Tu" that Qin Mu bought that day. Two maids stood beside them, looking so absorbed in the painting that they didn't notice Qin Mu when he arrived at the door.
Qin Mu was immediately mesmerized by the way Gu Hanyan embroidered. It was really beautiful. Under the window in the evening, the beauty's eyes were like smoke and her expression was calm. Under her rolled-up sleeves, her white wrists were as white as frost and snow.
With her slender jade fingers, she picked up the needle and thread and embroidered stitch by stitch, depicting apricot blossoms in the mist, the curling smoke from cooking fires on the other side of the river, the black-sailed boats swaying on the clear waves, and the good times under the oil-paper umbrellas.
Time in the south of the Yangtze River becomes so peaceful here. All the wars and battles, and the vast rivers and mountains, are crushed into distant mountains and misty water here.
Qin Mu finally understood why he felt Gu Hanyan was so quiet at first sight. Her quietness was different from the quietness of Dong Xiaowan. Her quietness was embroidered stitch by stitch. She embroidered the entire Jiangnan region, and the charm of Jiangnan was also integrated into her life.
Qin Mu stepped on the soft carpet, hugged her shoulders from behind, and held her delicate hand holding the embroidery needle.
“King Qin… ..”
"Do not talk."
Qin Mu admired her masterpiece carefully. She embroidered it according to the "Elegant Gathering at Lanting" on the wall, and only embroidered a small half of the whole picture.
But this small part of the work tries its best to imitate the brush and ink techniques of painting. It uses needles instead of pens, threads instead of ink, outlines and smudges, and uses various intermediate tones of the scenery, such as old and young, deep and shallow, thick and thin, to complement and overlay colors, to the point where it is difficult to tell whether it is embroidery or painting.
To achieve this level of "painting and embroidery", it is not enough to just be dexterous, but one must also have a deep attainment in painting.
"Hanyan, you really surprise me. Who did you learn this from?" Qin Mu said, his hand against her cheek.
Gu Hanyan was hugged by him, her fragrant face slightly blushed, and she shyly replied: "I learned it from my aunt. Compared with my aunt, I am still far behind."
"Hanyan, you are too modest. In my opinion, your embroidery skills have reached perfection."
"King Qin, please let Nunu go first."
Qin Mu smiled and let her go. Gu Hanyan walked to the wall, took out a picture album from a box, opened a page and showed it to Qin Mu.
If she hadn't reminded him first, Qin Mu would have really thought it was a painting.
This embroidery is composed of distant mountains, river water and beach, and the spatial treatment is simple and complex. The undulating distant mountains are low and remote. The river is vast, and a fisherman is fishing in a boat alone in the cold river. He looks lonely and desolate against the broad river surface.
The nearby beach is depicted in detail, with every blade of grass and tree clearly visible before one's eyes. What is particularly eye-catching is an old pine tree that rises tall from the ground among the low grass and trees. It is vigorous and outstanding, adding a sudden and vigorous sense of grandeur to the quiet and empty atmosphere.
The page is inscribed with "Han Ximeng", and on the other side there is a poem written by Dong Qichang: Why do you have to be so bright, the mountains are high and the water is empty. The heart is as light as a leaf, and the old pine tree becomes a dragon. The course is endless, the grass is green and the flowers are red. With a fishing rod in hand, there are thousands of breezes.
This album has a total of eight pages, and each picture is embroidered so naturally that there are no needle marks or thread traces, making it difficult to tell whether they are embroidered or painted.
Qin Mu liked it very much. He took the album to the embroidery frame and compared it with Gu Hanyan's embroidery.
Gu Hanyan said shyly: "Prince Qin, please stop comparing. I am really much worse than my aunt."
"Not bad, even if it is not bad, it is not much. Hanyan, you are still young, and you will definitely be better than me in the future."
Qin Mu said this while looking at the "Lanting Elegant Gathering" on the wall. This painting depicts Wang Xizhi and a group of celebrities and family members at the Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji. There are many characters in the painting.
Qin Mu suddenly had an idea and laughed, "Hanyan, can you embroider us both on it?"
Gu Hanyan was surprised when she heard this. Her cherry-like mouth was slightly opened, revealing her white teeth. Her expression was extremely charming.
In fact, Qin Mu was just speaking casually. The characters in "The Elegant Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion" are all freehand, and their faces and eyebrows cannot be seen clearly, so there is no question of who is embroidered with whom.
On the contrary, Gu Hanyan's astonished look was really adorable, and her eyes seemed to be as blurry as autumn water and evening smoke.
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Please give me a monthly ticket!
Please give me a monthly ticket!
Please give me a monthly ticket!
.(To be continued..)
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